Blog Stats

I believe in lighting a candle in the morning, looking out the window, and doing nothing for a good twenty minutes. Most of us could use a lot more nothing in our lives.

I believe my friends keep me sane. For years I lived in isolation, an introvert introverting, and I almost lost my mind. I do better when I live in community.

I believe in stories, yours and mine, for they are the basis of community. And they have the power to heal, inspire and awaken us.

I believe great-grandmas and newborns and women of every age in-between do better when their lives intersect often.

I believe devoted aunts and uncles are critical to the wellbeing of every child. (It doesn’t much matter whether they’re aunts and uncles by blood or in spirit.)

I believe women are the bell-weather for a society; the future of a culture depends on how women are treated.

I believe we must live intentionally and choose hard everyday or we will lose our own best self. We need to say no often so we can say a few important yeses.

I believe most of us need to simplify our lives. That looks different for each person but it always seems to require getting rid of something (household clutter, clothes we never wear, destructive relationships, photos of people we don’t know, responsibilities we shouldn’t have accepted to begin with).

I believe that suffering can be redemptive, that the deepest pain can become the most beautiful poetry. But it’s not easy.

I believe in the power of play and that a spoonful of sugar really does help the medicine go down. Sometimes I can only get my work done if I play very loud music.

I believe in silence—as prayer, as spiritual practice, as healing balm.

I believe there are times when we must not be silent. There are issues we need to cry and scream about: that millions of women and children are sold into the sex trade each year, that a billion people live on less than a dollar a day, that we are raping the earth with our careless use of resources.

I believe in recycling and that disposable plastics should be outlawed.

I believe it is heartbreaking that 80% of 18-24 year olds polled in America said the most important thing in life was to be very rich. (This is also a sad indictment of preceding generations, my own included.)

I believe in chopping vegetables by hand, in homemade soup and whole grain bread, and in the value of sitting long around a table with friends and family. I wish I did this more often.

I believe we should only wear clothes we love, and that nothing beats a pair of perfectly fitting jeans and a black turtle neck sweater. Black turtlenecks are an aging woman’s best friend.

I believe beautiful stationary will always have its place, email notwithstanding.

I believe that if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly. (It’s a heady thing for a recovering perfectionist to type those words without choking.)

I believe in 30-minute bursts of constructive activity and that it’s more important to start a project than to finish it. (If I start something, I may eventually finish it. If I’m paralyzed by the thought of having to finish it, I won’t even start it. Yeah, I know, I’m a deeply troubled person.)

I believe the most universal experiences are generally the most profound. Every birth leaves its witnesses speechless and every death is a tragedy never before known.

I believe that in almost any sad situation showing up is half the battle; if you don’t know what to say, don’t say anything. But show up anyway. And attend funerals as often as possible. You’ll never be sorry you attended a wake or funeral, but might regret staying away.

I believe that no grandmother has ever loved her grandchild as I love mine. I believe that every grandmother thinks that.

I believe women are the greatest untapped resource in the world.

I believe soulful women could take world by storm if they wanted to and that if ever the world needs a feminine storm to pass through it, it is now. Unfortunately, I don’t know how many soulful women are left. Too many of us leave our true lives unlived and our souls die.